WASHINGTON — After promising during the campaign to restore order and accountability to the nation's spy agencies, President-elect Barack Obama has been beset by uncharacteristic blunders in his effort to assemble an intelligence team.
His selection of Leon E. Panetta as CIA director marked the first time Obama faced immediate opposition from his own party over a Cabinet nomination. Leading lawmakers were angered that they weren't consulted and dismayed that Obama had chosen a candidate with scant intelligence experience.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Thursday, January 08, 2009 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 41 words Type of Material: Correction
CIA director: An article in Wednesday's Section A about the selection of Leon E. Panetta as CIA director described the job as a Cabinet position. A CIA director must be confirmed by the Senate, but it is not a Cabinet post.
As the controversy unfolded Tuesday, there were new indications that Panetta was not Obama's first choice for the job. A number of candidates, including former U.S. counter-terrorism official Richard A. Clarke, declined the post.
Seemingly caught off-guard by the fallout, Obama moved to vigorously defend the Panetta pick and started an intensive lobbying campaign to convince lawmakers that the onetime senior aide to President Clinton was a viable candidate to lead the CIA.
Obama sought to deflect the criticism by again calling attention to Bush administration intelligence programs that he plans to dismantle.
"I think people will see that we are putting together a top-notch intelligence team," Obama said, one that is "committed to breaking with some of the past practices and concerns that have, I think, tarnished the image of the agencies."
But in seeking to soothe the controversy, Obama may have ruffled other feathers. Taking a swipe at previous directors, Obama said his team would work to ensure that U.S. spy agencies were "no longer geared toward telling the president what the president wants to hear."
The remark appeared to be aimed mainly at former CIA Director George J. Tenet, infamous for telling the president that the U.S. had a "slam dunk" case against Iraq's alleged illegal weapons programs.
But the comment will probably rile the CIA rank and file.
"If Obama thinks that the community was telling the president what he wanted to hear, then he hasn't been fully briefed," said one former high-ranking agency official, speaking on condition of anonymity when discussing the political controversy.
Obama's search for a CIA director has been an unusual struggle for a politician known for his no-drama persona and remarkably smooth transition to power.
